Stay
by MacsLady
Summary: Mac and Jane are on a date. Just a little romance/fluff/light fic. Kind of a sequel to 'Loss' but you don't need to have read that fic first.


_Note: This fic is kind of a sequel to 'Loss'. You don't need to read that fic to understand this one, though. Basically, at the end of 'Loss' Mac asked Jane on a date, and this fic is set a couple of months after that. Both fics are set in s7-time, and Jane is working in DNA over at the M.E.'s office along with Dr Giles, just like in s1._

Stay.

'So, what toppings do you want on the pizza?' Mac asked Jane.

Jane smiled.

'Green peppers, mushrooms, and pepperoni.'

'Fine by me,' he said, 'You want beer or a soft drink?'

'I think I'll go for root beer,'

Mac smiled.

'I like the way you think,' he said.

The waitress came, and they ordered the pizza and two root beers. Once she left, Mac focused again on Jane.

This was the third time they'd been out for a meal after work, and they'd shared lunch a few times as well, if they could both manage to get away from work. They'd been dating for around a month now, and the more time Mac spent with her, the more he found himself falling for her. He'd always noticed she was pretty, always liked her, and admired her in the professional sense, but the way he'd begin to fall for her after that first time he'd asked her out had surprised him. He hadn't expected to fall for her so quickly, or so hard.

He enjoyed being with her, and when he was he found it easier to push work and the various responsibilities and stresses that came with it to the back of his mind. He could relax and just *be* when he spent time with her, there was little need to put up the walls and front required of him at the lab. He felt comfortable with her, and free. He was still somewhat flustered by his attraction to her, and especially by her attraction to him, which she didn't bother to hide. She was very good at flirting.

Jane sipped her root beer which had just arrived, and smiled at him.

'Why are you looking at me like that?'

He gave her a shy half smile.

'You look really beautiful tonight, Jane,' he said.

Now she blushed, and Mac felt a flash of pleasure at the idea that perhaps he made her a little nervous, that he could fluster her too.

'Mac, I'm wearing the same clothes I came to work in. It's just a blouse and pants for God's sake. And my hair's a mess.'

'You look beautiful to me,' he said.

Jane smiled, and the red on her cheeks deepened.

'You look pretty good yourself, Mac. It's nice to see you in casual clothes. You really do suit those black t-shirts.'

Now Mac felt his cheeks redden.

'How's Leonard?' he asked, changing the subject.

'He's fine. He and his wife are going to Barbados next week, which'll mean more work for me. But he's really excited. It's going to be a second honeymoon, apparently. He was going on about the king size bed in their suite. Which gave rise to images I do _not _want in my head.'

Mac laughed.

'I'll make sure to pop by as often as I can and keep you supplied with coffee,'

'You know the way to my heart, Mac,' she said. 'I can see I'll have to watch myself around you. You know my weaknesses far too well. You just might persuade me to do all kinds of things,'

Her tone and smile were distinctly flirty. Mac felt that same sense of flustered uncertainty for a moment, but despite it he smiled at her, and responded, softly,

'I'll have to come by very often, then.'

Jane chuckled.

The pizza came, and they spent some time in silence as they began to eat. Then Jane said,

'So, tell me more about before. Before you worked at the lab. You were telling me last week about that Whitney guy you were partners with when you were a beat cop, and crazy guy you arrested who was in Washington Square Park, stark naked, proclaiming he was...what was it?'

'He thought he was the King of the Geese,' Mac said, 'Apparently, he'd been talking to some geese via ESP and they had told him to go to Washington Square and pronounce that geese were actually alien beings come to Earth to settle, and he was their Earthly Lord.'

Jane laughed out loud. She looked even prettier when she laughed, he thought.

'Tell me more stories like that.'

'It's not very interesting,' he said.

'It is to me.' she said.

Mac smiled. It was good to talk about his life before he was boss of the lab, before Claire died. Once talking about those times would have hurt, and even now he couldn't see himself sharing this kind of stuff with just anyone. But now those memories, though edged with sadness, made him smile. Talking about them made him remember the happiness he'd shared with Claire, the good times in those years he was lucky enough to have with her.

'Okay,' he said, 'Whitney had a sister, Christine, and one summer, Whitney, Christine, Claire and I went to Myrtle Beach. We had this party on the shore one night, just the four of us. There was music playing, and beer flowing. I got very, very drunk. It was a good night. We were up dancing and talking till god knows what ungodly hour of the morning. The hangover the next morning wasn't so good, though.'

Jane smiled.

'Mac Taylor, drunk?' she said, 'A lot of people wouldn't believe it. Was that the drunkest you ever got?'

Mac barked out a laugh.

'Hell, no. There was one time when I was in the Marines. I'd just gotten back from a mission, and after we got back Stateside, and about 36 hours of straight sleep, I had some time off. So some buddies and I went out in San Diego that night. I think we drank almost *everything* except wine. Beer, whisky, vodka...my buddy Jonas was chatting up this girl who was completely out of his league, but he was doing quite well, I think because she was quite drunk, too. Until he puked on her, that is. She slapped him and ran off. God, the look on his face. I don't think I'd ever laughed so hard. We teased him about it for weeks after.'

Mac laughed at the memory, and Jane laughed too.

'I bet you had your fair share of the ladies, too,' she said, 'I imagine you'd look very hot in a Marine uniform. And you were an officer, too...'

Mac blushed again, both at her flirting and the truth of the statement. Up until Claire, he'd definitely had his share of flings and one night stands.

'What about you?' he said, 'I know you were raised in England till you were fifteen, then moved here with your dad. You were saying how you were really nervous about going to American high school. I bet you caught the eye of quite a few of the boys,'

Jane smiled.

'I guess so,' she said, 'Though my first date wasn't until I was sixteen. Tommy Jones. He was head of the Science Club. He was kind of geeky, but he was really cute. He actually gave me my first root beer, I'd never tried the stuff until then. My 'love' for Tommy didn't last long, you know how high school relationships are, but the root beer? That was love for life.'

Mac smiled and laughed again.

'Who dumped who?' he asked.

'Tommy dumped me, for some hot cheerleader who he was helping with her science project,' Jane smiled. 'At the time, I was devastated. Until me and my friend Sara broke into his locker and put Jello in his favourite pair of sneakers.'

'I guess he wasn't happy?' Mac asked.

'He certainly wasn't. You could hear his scream down the hall.'

'Well, he obviously deserved it,' Mac said, 'Smart as he was as science, he was really stupid to dump someone like you for some cheerleader.'

'Mac, she was one of the most beautiful girls in school.'

'Not as beautiful as you, I bet.' Mac said.

Jane's cheeks flared, and her eyes lit up. She gave him a flirty, slightly embarrassed half-smile.

'You can be very charming when you want to be, Mac.'

He smiled.

'You bring out my better side,' he said. 'And I'm only telling the truth. You're really pretty, and if Tommy Jones couldn't see that, then he was an idiot.'

Jane smiled again.

They spent the next couple of hours talking, about things that didn't really matter. Mac felt relaxed, and he couldn't stop looking at Jane and thinking how pretty she was, how good she made him feel. It had been a long time since he'd felt simultaneously this attracted to and at ease around a woman. He really wasn't entirely sure what to do about his attraction and her flirting, but it was an uncertainty and nervousness he didn't object to.

xxx

'Well, this is it,' Jane said as they stood outside the door to her apartment.

'Yeah,' Mac said. He felt nervous. They'd been dating for a while, and he wanted to kiss her, but hesitated. Was it too soon? Should he go for a kiss on the cheek or just a hug? Mac cursed inwardly, he was sure dating hadn't always been this hard. But then it had been a long time since he'd met a woman who captivated and threw him the way Jane did, since he'd really _fallen_ for someone. The last time that had happened had been when he'd met Claire.

'I really enjoyed tonight,' he said softly.

'Me, too,' said Jane. 'Next time you have to let me take you to this great Chinese place I know.'

'Sounds great,' Mac said.

Jane met his eyes, then glanced away, then back again. Mac realized she was as uncertain of herself right now as he was.

The thought made him smile, and he didn't even really make the decision. He leaned in and kissed Jane. The wildness and passion of the kiss surprised even him. He was falling for her. Crazily so, he realized. She was beautiful and smart and funny and she had never once treated him as some kind of oddity or source of wary pity because of Claire's death. He had fallen for her for all those reasons and others he couldn't put words too. He needed her, wanted her. And, he *wanted* her to know it. All of this, Mac poured into his kiss, pulling Jane tight to him with one arm and running his free hand ithrough her hair. She returned the kiss with equal passion and need, burying one hand in his hair to pull him closer, the other coming to rest on his lower back.

Mac had no idea how long the kiss lasted, or who pulled away first. His mind was whirling and his heart was beating fast and he felt stupidly, insanely happy.

Jane's eyes glittered and her cheeks were flushed as she brought one hand to her lips.

'_Damn_, Mac, you're _good_ at that.' she said, quietly.

Mac gave her a half smile, but said nothing, merely leaned in and kissed her again, more slowly and softly this time.

When they parted again, Jane smiled up at him.

'Don't go,' she said softly.

Mac was a little surprised. After that kiss, he certainly didn't _want_ to leave, but he didn't want her to think him too forward.

'You mean...are you sure?' he said.

Jane put her fingers to his lips.

'I know what I want, Mac. I want you to stay.'

The tone in her voice and the glint in her eye made it absolutely clear what she meant, and that she meant every word of it.

Mac felt desire flare through, a desire that for all it's heat was tempered by a raw need for her, not just physical, but emotional too.

'Okay,' he said, his voice low and rough with the desire he could barely keep in check. Jane's simple request that he stay had freed him, overridden any cautious hesitancy he'd had about how far he should go with her.

Jane smiled at him. The smile was distinctly flirty and with a wicked edge, as though she had Mac exactly where she wanted him. He liked the smile a lot.

Jane took his hand in one of hers as she unlocked the door of her apartment and led him inside.

The End.


End file.
